Tag: Desire

From then on, made a conscious effort to watch my thoughts- the thoughts that stole my concentration away from whatever I was doing. I was not always successful – it takes a lot of energy to process the things which have been to set to automation.

Only good thing that came out of this process is my understanding of some of the inessentials that I kept thinking. Or the ones that I taught my mind to be essentials by constantly thinking about them when not required. I mean, they are information but the only problem is that they were running unconsciously without me recalling it.

And my understanding about Mindlessness is to be a thought less state. We all experience that state in meditation or in deep sleep. But when the body is actively working the mind should be present there but unlike the body, it does multitask.

This is what I understand that we’re doing- programming it to slowly destroy us and then blaming it. We do not even know where is it localized and we are treating it. It can be numbed but it cannot be cured by medications alone. I think more than any kind of education, this is very important. We should know how to run it rightly. We are just doing it all wrong.

We should teach the kids. They haven’t yet accumulated all the trash that we have. We should teach them to employ mindfulness as an instrument to declutter.

Verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita:

Chapter 2, verse 62 and Chapter 3, 40-42

Bhagavad Gita strongly recommends you to search the breeding grounds of desire. Desire enters us when we are attached to something. And attachment because of contemplation on sensory objects. We should remember that overthinking leads to a cycle of reactions.

Last week, I visited my cousin and spent a couple of days with her. She has grown up to become more mature for her age and together we could strike some good conversations. On one such, she said it is true that we attract things what we desire from this universe citing some examples of the ones in the family who were drawn to like-minded partners. She was right about the attraction aspect but are we not attracting like-minded things and not desire-minded ones? Think about it.

Law of Attraction Is Built To Attract What You ARE & NOT What You DESIRE

We are attracting what we are and not what we desire. So instead of spending our energy in just desiring for things(partner, career, attitude, happiness), we should be expending the same energy in shaping our desired personality.

Okay, now let’s understand what does like-minded mean?

Like-minded: of the same mind or habit of thought.

Then,

What isHabit? It is a usual way of behaving

And,

What is Behaviour? It is anything that an organism does involving action and response to stimulation

So, can we say the below

Our Experiences & observations form our belief system which creates our Thought Process which determines our Feelings which coerces us to Act upon it and if we persist in acting the same way, it becomes a Habit, which builds our Personality and our personality shapes our Destiny.

Such is our system. Apply this in any context and this workflow will always stand true. Be that be organization, personal, political or social as we are always interacting with Humans.

There is a saying by Marc Benioff “The number one thing companies don’t learn is how to let go of the past.” How can they let go when the past, present and future depends on their beliefs. Now when we talk about spending millions of dollars on personality development in organizations, do we ever question the effectiveness of such retreats? How can we change anyone’s personality if we don’t change his/her belief system? We have to attack the roots and anything superficial will never last longer. Not only do the leaders stick to their beliefs but they subtly transmit their belief system to their successors.Thereby shaping their beliefs as organizations. Don’t be OK with the status quo. The market isn’t static, so your organization shouldn’t be either. Beliefs need to be upgraded and your organization should reflect that. The same also should go on a personal level.

We have to attack the roots and anything superficial will never last longer. Not only do the leaders stick to their beliefs but they subtly transmit their belief system to their successors. Thereby shaping their beliefs as organisations. Don’t be OK with the status quo. The market isn’t static, so your organisation shouldn’t be either. Beliefs need to be upgraded and your organisation should reflect that. The same also should go on a personal level.

Although most of us desire success in all spheres of our lives, we also do not completely believe that success is possible. There is always a doubt about what would happen if we couldn’t? By doing this, are we not diverting our thoughts into shaping our failure?

You are the CREATOR of Your Own DESTINY

Bhagavad Gita says, you have the right to act but never to the fruits of your action. We can use this epistemology to shape not just our personalities but our destinies alike. So let the thoughts flow in the direction of our desire never doubting our ability to succeed. Likewise, if we are good, we will attract good things from this universe. Desiring is not enough to succeed, shaping the desire is equally important for success.

If we look into Upanishads they say desire springs from our vasanas, our deep-seated mental impressions that are carried forward with rebirths.Psychoanalysis says with drive born of desire gives birth to arousal and actions.

Have you ever wondered why does this make the most evolved species on this planet mystique? It is because our desires, thought or actions are different, considering we being equipped with the same mental faculties.

We as humans are constantly learning from our surroundings, experiences and society. These propel our desires too other than our inbuilt mental impressions. They sometimes can end up riveting in diametrically opposite desires (coming in conflict with each other) which creates conflict. Not many understand their mental faculties which lead them into physiological and psychological problems

Can we fulfil all our desires? Not all desires are fulfilled for reasons like they being innate depravity of our nature or against societal norms. Such are either sublimated or repressed which can lead to tension, anxiety and even depression.

Though born of the same blood, each perceives a situation/thing in more than one way (in his or her own way). Not even identical twins think alike. As we perceive the world so we act which makes us different from other species. Perhaps the development of the Prefrontal Cortex explains this. Also, this makes the concept of right and wrong foreign.

Now old scriptures do have an answer to this mystery and science second the same. They ask us to be detached from our thoughts and that help us make an unbiased decision.

Now the word detachment frightens us and many have interpreted this word in zillion ways, making it a Yogins right. Battling the internal and external conflicts few decide not live a compromised life and continue on their journey to self-knowledge, choosing Mysticism.

I marvel at such strong desire to go beyond the intellect to understand the meaning of life. It might sound to many like a wild goose chase but simple small steps can take us to the less travelled side of life. It shall equip us with the strength to lead a more positive life.